What is Sound?

Sound is a mechanical vibration capable of travelling for long distances

through solids liquids or gasses.

Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.

Sound travels further in a liquid such as water than it does through air. The
human voice can be heard by the human ear at a distance of perhaps one
hundred or several hundred metres. Whales and dolphins, on the other hand,
can communicate using sound through water at very long distances, perhaps
as much as hundreds of miles. Sound travels even further in most solids than
it does in liquids.

For any given material at a given temperature and pressure the velocity of
sound is a constant. The velocity of sound in liquids, gasses and some solids
such as perspex is strongly affected by changes in temperature. Fortunately
this is not the case with metals such as steel or aluminium where the velocity
remains relatively constant over quite a wide range of temperature.

Sound travels in a straight line in any continuous material.

Sound is a “waveform”. It obeys the same laws as other waveforms such as

light. All waveforms are characterised by three basic properties: FREQUENCY
(f), WAVELENGTH () and VELOCITY (v).

What is Frequency (f)?

Frequency is the number of wave cycles per second, or the number of waves
per second passing a fixed point on the sound path.

The units of frequency are “Hertz”, standard abbreviation (Hz).

1 Hz = 1 cycle per second

1 kHz = 1,000 cycles per second

(“k” is the abbreviation for “kilo” and means x1,000)

1 MHz = 1,000,000 cycles per second

(“M” is the abbreviation for “Mega” and means x1,000,000)
What is Wavelength ()?

Wavelength is the distance travelled by a wave in one complete cycle.

The units of wavelength are metres (m) or [more often] millimetres (mm).

1,000 mm = 1 m
(“m” is the abbreviation for “milli” and means 1,000)

What is Velocity (v)?

Velocity is the distance travelled by the waveform in one second.

The waveform travels one wavelength in one cycle and the frequency tells us
how many cycles there are in each second, so it must be true that:

v = f x  (usually written v = f)

An equation like v = f just tells us that “a number = a number” (e.g. 100 =

100). “v” and “f” are just two different ways of writing the same number
(e.g. 100 = 5 x 20). “v”, “f” and “” are simply numbers.

If we take an equation like 100 = 100 it will remain true as long as we do the
same thing to both sides of the equation, if we multiply by 10 it becomes
1000 = 1000, if we divide by 10 it becomes 10 = 10. Applying the same sort
of logic to v = f we could for instance divide both sides by “f”, “f” being just
another way of writing a number:

v/f = f/f =  (because f/f = 1)

which is the same as saying:

 = v/f
In a similar way if we take v = fand divide both sides by “” we get:

f = v/

The units of velocity are metres per second, abbreviated as m/s or ms -1.

Note: If making calculations using the equations given above it is very

important that the units used are consistent with one another: if wavelength
is given in millimetres then v = fwill give an answer for “v” that is in
millimetres rather than metres per second. To convert millimetres per second
to metres per second it will be necessary to divide the result by 1,000.
Modes of Vibration

In liquids and gasses sound propagates as a compression wave.

Other names for “compression wave” are “longitudinal wave” and “straight
beam”.

In elastic solids such as steel and aluminium sound can propagate as a

compression wave, a transverse wave, a surface wave or as a Lamb wave.

Another name for “transverse wave” is “shear wave”.

Another name for “surface wave” is “Rayleigh wave”.

Compression Waves

Longitudinal or compression waves are characterised by particle motion

parallel to the mode of propagation (sometimes described as particle motion
in the same direction as propagation).

This type of wave moves forward as a series of alternating compressions (i.e.

zones of high pressure) and rarefactions (i.e. areas of low pressure).

Transverse Waves

Transverse or shear waves are characterised by particle motion perpendicular

(i.e. at 90) to the direction of propagation. They propagate (to any great
extent) only in elastic solids such steel or aluminium. They do not propagate
at all in liquids or in gasses. They do not propagate well in plastic materials
such as perspex; even in some metals, for example zinc or lead, they do not
propagate well.

The velocity of a shear wave in any given material is roughly 50% of the
velocity of a compression wave in the same material (e.g. steel: compression
5920 m/s, shear 3240 m/s; aluminium compression 6300 m/s, shear 3130
m/s).

Because the velocity is less than that of compression the wavelength is also
less, roughly 50% of the compression wavelength in the same given material.
A shorter wavelength means that shear waves are potentially capable of
detecting smaller discontinuities than compression assuming that frequency
remains the same; but a shorter wavelength produces disadvantages too, the
near zone is longer, and shear waves are more easily attenuated in coarse
grain materials.
Surface Waves

Surface or Rayleigh waves are characterised by elliptical particle motion.

They propagate along the smooth surfaces of elastic solids such as steel or
aluminium. They do not propagate at all in liquids, gasses and a large
number of solid materials.

The velocity of a surface wave is approximately 90% of the velocity of a shear

wave in the same given material.

Surface waves penetrate the surface only to a depth of about one

wavelength. Where the surface is smooth, and the contours gradual, surface
waves can propagate around a corner. They will be strongly reflected,
however, by even the shallowest of scratches. A small amount of grease on
the surface or anything touching the surface (such as a finger) will severely
attenuate a surface wave.

Lamb Waves

Particle motion in a Lamb wave is complex and unlike the other modes of
propagation velocity is not constant for a given material.

Ultrasound

Ultrasound is defined as sound having a frequency above the range of human

hearing – i.e. above 20,000 Hz (= 20 kHz).

Ultrasound used in Ultrasonic Testing is generally in the range from half a

million to fifty million cycles per second (0.5 to 50 MHz).

Interface Behaviour

An interface in ultrasonic testing is defined as the boundary between two

acoustically different materials.

When a beam of sound encounters an interface any or a combination of the

following behaviours can or will occur:

1. Reflection
2. Transmission
3. Refraction
4. Mode conversion (of reflected sound)
5. Mode conversion (of refracted sound)
Reflection / Transmission

The amount of sound energy reflected and the amount transmitted at any
interface is dependent upon the change in “acoustic impedance” at the
interface. Where there is a large change in acoustic impedance most sound
will be reflected.

If the acoustic impedances are known the amounts of sound reflected and
transmitted can be calculated.

The combined total of reflected and transmitted energy is always equal to the
total incident sound energy – no energy is lost.

Important interface examples are water – steel (88% reflection, 12%

transmission) and air – steel (99.96% reflection, 0.04% transmission). Note
that the amounts reflected / transmitted are the same whether going from
water or air to steel or from steel to air or water.

Acoustic Impedance

Acoustic impedance is a constant for any given material at constant

temperature and pressure.

Acoustic impedance (Z) is equal to the product of density () and sound
velocity (v):

Z = v

Acoustic impedance can be thought of as the work required to start (or stop)
vibrations in a material.

Steel has a high acoustic impedance. It is difficult make steel start vibrating,
but once vibrating it is difficult to make the vibrations stop.

Air has a very low acoustic impedance. It is easy to initiate vibrations in air,
the tiny muscles in our voice box have no difficulty, but the vibrations stop
rather quickly and our voices carry perhaps one hundred metres or so.
Reflection

Sound is reflected at an interface in much the same way as light is reflected

by a mirror.

So long as there is no mode conversion the angle of reflection (r) is equal to

the angle of incidence (i). If mode conversion occurs then the angle of
reflection can be calculated.

Refraction

When sound is incident on an interface with an angle of incidence of other

than zero degrees refraction will occur if sound is transmitted through the
interface and there is a change in sound velocity.

Refraction can be defined as the bending of a sound beam at an interface due

to a change in velocity.

Often, refraction will be associated with mode conversion.

If the sound velocities and the angle of incidence are known then the angle of
refraction can be calculated.
Mode Conversion

At an interface mode conversion will occur whenever the angle of incidence is

favourable if the material through which the sound is travelling is capable of
supporting more than one mode of propagation.

Mode conversion means that [for instance] an incident compression wave

may mode convert at an interface into shear and/or surface waves if the
conditions for this are favourable.

Both reflected and refracted waves can be mode converted.

Producing Ultrasound

Sources of ultrasound include the following:

1. Electro-mechanical devices (in principle similar to the loudspeakers in a

hifi system).
2. Piezo electric crystals.
3. Magnetostriction.
4. Laser devices.

Of these by far the most important are piezo electric crystals.

The original applications of ultrasonic testing in the 1940s used electro-
mechanical devices to produce continuous ultrasound. Such devices are not
suitable for “pulse-echo” ultrasonic testing.

Magnetostrictive devices are capable of generating ultrasonic waves in

ferromagnetic materials (e.g. mild steel) only. They cause vibrations by
means of a high frequency magnetic field.

Laser devices are a recent development. Lasers can be used to induce sound
waves in components which maybe several metres from the laser device.

The Piezo-Electric Effect

So called “piezo-electric crystals” were discovered by the French scientists

Pierre & Jacques-Paul Curie around 1880. He discovered that naturally
occurring quartz crystals change shape when placed in an electric field and
that such crystals, when subject to vibration, produced a small alternating
electric current.

All materials capable of converting electrical to mechanical or mechanical to

electrical energy are termed “piezo-electric”.
During the 1950s and 60s polycrystalline piezo-electric ceramic materials were
discovered and these are the materials that are used today in the vast
majority of ultrasonic transducers.

The most important piezo-electric ceramics are Lead Metaniobate and Lead
Zirconate Titanate (or PZT).

A piezo-electric crystal can be “driven” at a chosen frequency by applying an

alternating current. However, in pulse-echo testing the crystal is not driven,
but allowed to “ring” at it’s resonant frequency. The resonant frequency of a
crystal depends on the material from which it is made and the thickness of
the crystal.

Remember that in pulse echo ultrasonic testing it is the crystal or

transducer element thickness that determines the test frequency.
This frequency is fixed by the probe and cannot be altered by the operator.

Ultrasonic Probes

Ultrasonic probes are designed to produce a short pulse of sound travelling in

the desired direction.

Short pulse length is critical if good resolution is to be achieved. The pulse

length produced by the probes used for spot weld examination is extremely
short, only 1 to 1.5 wavelengths, which at 20 MHz in steel amounts to a pulse
length of under 0.5 mm.

Short pulse length is achieved by “damping” the crystal so as to prevent

excessive “ringing” following excitation. Damping is achieved both
mechanically (by bonding the crystal to a tungsten araldite backing material)
and electrically (the flawdetector does this).

Pulse length chiefly depends on the type of probe in use, but to some extent
it also depends on the flawdetector. If pulse length is to be measured then
ideally the same probe – flawdetector combination that is to be used for
testing should be used to measure pulse length.

Sound deadening backing materials (e.g. rubber) are used in the probe
housing to absorb any sound transmitted in other than the desired direction.
This reduces probe noise and thereby the dead zone of the probe is
minimised.
Ultrasonic Flawdetectors

At the heart of any modern flawdetector is the “pulse generator”. The pulse
generator produces short alternating voltage spikes at regular intervals. The
rate at which the pulse generator produces these spikes is the “pulse
repetition frequency”.

It is important to understand that the pulse repetition frequency (or PRF) in

no way affects the test frequency (the test frequency is fixed by the probe).

PRF is typically 1,000 to 2,000 Hz but may be as high as 5,000 Hz when

testing spot welds or as low as 100 Hz when testing large forgings.

The maximum PRF that can be used depends on the desired test range, the
longer the desired test range the lower the PRF must be.

The “timebase generator” is triggered by the pulse generator via a “delay

control”. A “range control” determines the rate at which the timebase
scans across the horizontal axis of the screen. The delay control allows the
operator to choose the display screen zero position.

Typically the echo signal received by a probe in pulse echo testing will have
an amplitude less than 1% that of the initial pulse of sound produced by the
probe. Hence it is necessary to amplify the received echo signal so that it can
be displayed at a convenient echo height on the display screen. The amount
of amplification can be altered by means of the “gain control”.

The gain control of a flawdetector is invariably calibrated in decibels (dB).

The decibel is a logarithmic unit of comparison, it is not an absolute unit.

Increasing the gain setting by 6 dB will double the displayed signal height.

Decreasing the gain by 6 dB will halve the displayed echo height.

Couplant

A couplant such as oil or water is used in ultrasonic testing to reduce sound

reflection at the sound entry surface.

A couplant in UT may be oil, water or a (soft) plastic material.

Couplant must be non-toxic, non-irritant and must not harm the test material
or the probe.
The Sound Beam

The sound beam produced by standard contact testing ultrasonic probes is

divergent. This divergence means that sound intensity (sound pressure)
decreases with range, because the same amount of sound energy is passing
through a larger and larger area.

The probes used for spot-weld testing incorporate a “wave guide” – a rubber
lined water filled tube, which is intended to minimise beam divergence. A
degree of beam divergence is still present however.

The sound beam from an ultrasonic probe can be divided into two distinct
zones: NEAR ZONE and FAR ZONE.

Near Zone

The near zone is an area of the sound beam containing local maxima and
minima (highs and lows). The local variations in sound intensity or pressure
within the near zone are caused by “interference”.

The length of the near zone can be calculated using:

Where N is the length of the near zone (mm), D is the crystal diameter (mm),
 is the wavelength (mm), v is the velocity (mm/s) and f is the frequency
(Hz).

In typical spot weld probes a large part of the near zone is contained in the
water column. The table below gives near zones in steel for typical 20 MHz
probes having a water column length of about 15 mm.

TYPICAL NEAR ZONE IN STEEL OF 20 MHz SPOT WELD PROBES

Percentage of Percentage of Length of near
Crystal
near zone in near zone in zone in steel
diameter (mm)
water (%) steel (%) (mm)
3.15 44.7 55.3 4.6
3.60 34.3 65.7 7.2
4.00 27.8 72.3 9.8
5.00 17.8 82.2 17.4
Far Zone

In the far zone the beam diverges and the sound pressure or intensity, from a
maximum at the end of the near zone, descends gradually towards zero,
without ever actually reaching zero. The mathematical term for this kind of
behaviour is “exponential decay”.

Dead Zone

Dead zone is a part of a sound beam where echoes from possible defects
cannot be detected due to probe noise.

For high frequency probes this will usually be part of the near zone, but for
low frequency probes the dead zone will frequently extend into the far zone.

The dead zone of probes used in spot weld testing is very short, certainly less
than 0.5 mm in steel. Probes of 1 or 2 MHz, as are typically used to examine
coarse grained castings, may have a dead zone exceeding 50 mm of steel.

Attenuation

Attenuation is a loss of sound pressure or intensity not associated with the

effects of beam spread.

Attenuation in ultrasonic testing is caused by two mechanisms: Absorption

and Scattering.

Absorption is due to internal friction. As sound passes through a material a

proportion of its energy is converted to heat. In metallic objects at the sound
frequencies used in ultrasonic testing this effect is minimal.

Metallic engineering components are polycrystalline. Individual crystals are

usually referred to as “grains”. Materials referred to as coarse grained have a
relatively large average grain size. Materials referred to as fine grained have
a relatively small average grain size.

Scattering of sound in metallic engineering components is largely due to

coarse grain structure. Attenuation caused by scattering is the major
component of attenuation in the ultrasonic testing of metallic objects.

Scattering becomes severe when the average grain size exceeds half of the
wavelength of the sound. Thus high frequency, short wavelength sound is
more prone to attenuation than is low frequency, long wavelength sound.
The lower the sound frequency, the longer the wavelength the
better the sound penetration. Note that shear waves have a wavelength
approximately 50% that of compression waves at the same frequency, they
are therefore more easily attenuated.

Cast metallic components have coarse grain structure when compared to

wrought metallic components such as forgings or rolled products.

A spot weld is a fusion weld. A fusion weld is effectively a small casting.

Therefore the attenuation factor for the weld metal is greater than that for
the parent sheet material. A good weld has higher attenuation than a stick
weld. Overheated welds have higher attenuation than good welds.

Sensitivity

Sensitivity can be defined as the ability to detect small reflectors.

In order that sensitivity can be set in a repeatable fashion national codes and
standards [in various ways] define the size of a significant reflector (i.e. one
that has to be detected).

The sensitivity of an ultrasonic test depends on the wavelength of the sound

used, the type of material & product form being tested and the equipment
gain setting.

The minimum size of a reflector that can be detected ultrasonically is

generally taken to be equal to half the wavelength of the sound. Thus the
higher the test frequency, the shorter the wavelength, the greater the
resultant test sensitivity.

Coarse grained materials may cause a high degree of ultrasonic noise. In

some cases it may not be possible to detect a significant reflector due to
background noise caused by grain structure (usually called “grass”). Things
get difficult when the “signal to noise ration” is less than 12 dB. Thus high
test sensitivity is not possible when the test object is a coarse grained casting.

If the gain setting is set too high the test operator may be distracted by large
signals from insignificant defects. Thus it is important to have a method of
setting a sensible level of gain.

When testing spot welds the gain setting should be adjusted on

each weld so that the first backwall echo is displayed at between
80% and 100% of full screen height. Failure to set the test
sensitivity in this way makes it difficult for the operator to properly
assess the level of attenuation present.
Resolution

Resolution in ultrasonic testing is the ability to separate echo responses from

closely spaced reflectors.

In spot weld testing it is important to have good resolution because the

successive backwall echoes from very thin sheet materials have to be
resolved.